NBC’s “This Is Us” and ABC’s “Jeopardy! National College Championship” season finale tied for primetime’s highest-rated show Tuesday night, but neither was the most-watched overall. That distinction went to CBS’ O.G. “FBI” show.
“FBI” spinoffs “FBI: International” and “FBI: Most Wanted” were the evening’s second- and third most-watched shows, with 5.9 million and 5.5 million total viewers, respectively. ABC’s “To Tell the Truth” winter premiere aired at 10 p.m., but if a lot of people tell you they watched it, they would be lying.
CBS, NBC and ABC all tied for first in ratings, each with a 0.5 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. CBS easily took the top spot in total viewers with an average of 6.2 million, according to preliminary numbers.
CBS held strong from 8 to 11 p.m. airing its “FBI” franchise. At 8 p.m., “FBI” earned a 0.6 rating and 7.1 million total viewers. At 9, “FBI: International” had a 0.5 rating and 5.9 million total viewers. “FBI: Most Wanted” at 10 drew a 0.5 rating and 5.5 million total viewers.
ABC came in second in total viewers with 3.2 million. NBC came in third with 2.9 million total viewers.
On ABC, the “Jeopardy!” National College Championship at 8 p.m. posted a 0.7 rating and 5.4 million total viewers. At 9, “Abbott Elementary” earned a 0.6 rating and 2.9 million total viewers. “Black-ish” came next, garnering a 0.4 rating and 1.9 million total viewers at 9:30. Finally, the 10 o’clock season premiere of the game show “To Tell the Truth” had a 0.3 rating and 1.8 million viewers.
NBC began the primetime hours with “American Auto,” which got a 0.4 rating and 2 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 8:30, “Grand Crew” had a 0.3 rating and 1.5 million viewers. At 9, “This Is Us” shot to a 0.7 rating and drew in 4.3 million total viewers. At 10, “New Amsterdam” had a 0.3 rating and 2.8 million viewers.
Fox was fourth in ratings with a 0.3 and in total viewers with 2.2 million. For Fox, “The Resident” received a 0.3 rating and 3 million total viewers at 8 p.m.. From 9 to 10, “The Real Dirty Dancing” got a 0.2 rating and 1.3 million total viewers.
The CW was fifth with a 0.1 rating and 646,000 total viewers. “Superman & Lois” aired first at 8 p.m. to a 0.2 rating and 793,000 viewers. Then, at 9 p.m., “Naomi” had a 0.1 rating and 499,000 total viewers.
We do not have early Nielsen numbers for Spanish-language broadcast networks Univision and Telemundo.